Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Ohayo!
Before I begin this post I want to share an amazing story & lesson I recently read on one of my favorite blogs>> The Positive Mom by Elayna Fernandez
I love reading her posts, it's always filled with such brilliant quality content.

– “Dad, look the trees are going behind us!”Dad smiled.A young couple sitting nearby, looked at the young man’s childish behavior with pity.Suddenly, he again exclaimed:– “Dad, look! The clouds are running with us!”The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man:-“Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?”The old man smiled and said:-“I did. We are just coming from the hospital. My son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today!

“Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them. The truth might surprise you.”

Oprah Winfrey - 5 Lessons You Taught Me

5. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.”

Turn your mess into a message. Don’t let your pain be in vain. Do something positive with it!

4. "The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free."

Letting go of fear is probably one of the most challenging things to do and it is a daily battle, not a once off sprint. But once you do, the feeling is unimaginable. You become unshackled to go out and achieve.

3. “Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and there discovered was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.”

This is such a brilliant lesson and definitely one of my favorite quotes by her. Books are absolutely the greatest thing man has ever invented in my opinion. They have power like no other. To reach worlds and cultures you never thought possible.

2. “Surround yourself only with people that are going to take you higher.”

It was only until last year that this lesson ever entered my mind. I began to value the people in my life that were as motivated or more motivated than I. They are the ones that support your journey, selflessly and passionately. They lift others up.

1. “I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. ”

Such a profound and meaningful lesson, how could I not share it?

A lesson, that if we truly let it, could change SO much for us.

Embrace your uniqueness. You are different, your gift is special – own it and unapologetically share it with the world.

Oprah and her talk show has taught me so much over the many years of viewing that it's beyond tough to pick just five lessons. Quite possibly soon, I might have to do a top ten on the shows that changed my perspective on life. She's had such incredible and larger than life guests on her show, guests who've the touched the heart of the world many times over.
These are the 5 lessons I've found most applicable in the sense of self-improvement & wisdom.

Here's some fun :-) I just had to include this. It's ICONIC, no?

Too often do we settle for less when More becomes exceedingly unavailable.

Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Happy #TravelTuesday!
Congratulations you've made it through Monday and here's your chance to WIN WIN WIN!
The newly published author, Nicky Drayden joined us yesterday for an awesome interview with so much wisdom & golden nuggets shared about her Author Journey.

To celebrate this awesome success story, Nicky is presenting an incredible opportunity for both reader and author alike.

Giveaway for both readers & other authors!***Open InterNationally***

First up for grabs is for the Readers. Stand a chance to WIN WIN WIN a Box Set of Nicky's Delightfully Twisted Tales

This collection of short stories contains 86% of your daily value for weirdness. If you’re still feeling deficient after reading these tales, stay tuned for Nicky Drayden’s forthcoming debut novel, THE PREY OF GODS from Harper Voyager, Summer 2017.

Next up is for all our fellow Authors, Nicky will be graciously doing a Critique for the Lucky chucky Winner. The Winner will have their pick of critique at either their Query Letter or First Ten Pages of their Novel Or A Short Story Under 3000 Words. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, 29 August 2016

This #MondayMotivation I have the supreme honor to introduce you to an author from the US who's written a book based in my homeland of South Africa. She reached out to me via my blog after having read through some of my posts. She'd been looking for cultural feedback on her upcoming book THE PREY OF GODS. I'm so jazzed to have met her, this interview has certainly been a highlight for me and it has taught me a great many things along the way. This post,in hope, will be a beacon for everyone in pursuit of their dreams. To realize in a shining blaze of example, that ALL things are possible. You need only to Believe again.

Nicky Drayden is a Systems Analyst who dabbles in prose when she’s not buried in code. She resides in Austin, Texas where being weird is highly encouraged, if not required. She’s the author of over 30 published short stories and also serves as the Special Anthologies editor for The Drabblecast, a speculative fiction podcast. Her debut novel THE PREY OF GODS is scheduled for release Summer 2017, from Harper Voyager.

Quick Fire

Favorite Book:

Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

Favorite Author:

Other than Neal Stephenson, probably Octavia Butler

Favorite Book Boyfriend:

Tal, the genderless set designer from River of Gods. (I guess more of a person-friend) Loved the flaws, the hurt, the ambition, and the knack of getting into sticky situations.

Favorite Bad Boy Character:

Zaphod Beeblebrox. Gotta love a guy whose passions are only rivaled by his narcissism.

Digital, but I took a loooong time to convert. I was one of those purists who loved the feel and smell of paper, and couldn’t fathom having the same emotional connection with text written in pixels. Last year I got a Kindle Paperwhite, and haven’t touched a paper book since.

Handwriting or Typing:

99% typing, but handwriting if I’m having a bad bout of writer’s block.

If you had to MAKE UP/INVENT one word, what would it be? And what would that word mean?

Thesaurasaurus: A species of dinosaur who survived all of the extinction level events, only to be done in by the stress of making up new words.

Let’s get personal:

How long have you been writing for?

I started writing in 2005. In November of the previous year, the local news did a segment on National Novel Writing Month, and I thought it sounded fun. The event was nearly over by the time I heard about it though, so I just planned on doing it the next November. Turns out I couldn’t wait that long, and ended up doing my own novel writing month in April. I completed my first book in 25 days. It’s buried deep in a trunk somewhere, but I’m still proud of it. I’ve been writing ever since.

What inspires you most to write?

I have a lot of weird dreams that become story ideas. If I’m not actively working on a project, my dreams tend to get REALLY weird. I’ve also been able to lucid dream and have plotted an entire short story while asleep. Then all I did was wake up and type it out in the morning.

The Big Debate of Traditional Vs. Self-Publishing. What made you choose one against the other?

Is there a debate? I went the traditional route with THE PREY OF GODS, but I’ve self-published several collections of short stories as well in my Delightfully Twisted Tales series. There’s value in both, as long as you maintain professionalism and manage your expectations. I’m hoping that people who’ve enjoyed my short stories will want to read my novel when it comes out. (And vice versa.)

What would be the ultimate goal for you to achieve as a writer?

My ultimate goal is to have a reader both laugh out loud and shed a tear of sadness within the same chapter. (Preferably on the same page.) The thought of my words causing an actual physical reaction within someone thrills me.

Tell me about your support structure. Who’s on board with you being an author, who doubted you?

I have an incredible support network of friends and family. Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with any naysayers since I don’t tend to keep those types of people around me. My parents have always been there to encourage my writing and are eager to read my stories (except my dad won’t read the ones with sad endings.) Early on I had a great writing mentor, Richard, who taught me a lot about the technical aspects of writing and about how the industry works. I’ve also surrounded myself with a whole assortment of amazing fellow writers through NaNoWriMo events, local and virtual writer’s groups, conventions, and writing workshops.

Walk me through your process of submissions in your search for an agent/publisher.

THE PREY OF GODS took about 9 months to write and revise. I’d queried a different novel previously, with a full manuscript request but no bites, so I knew the process fairly well. A lot of nail biting and self-doubt. And waiting. For this novel, I queried around 25 agents in batches of 5 or so, sent out a week apart. I divided my list into an A-list consisting my top five dream agents that I thought I had no chance of landing, my B-list of respectable and well-established agents, and a C-list of agents that were newer, had a few sales under their belt, and looked promising. When I sent out my batches, I made sure that there were a few agents from each list so I didn’t immediately blow my chances with my A-list agents in case my query wasn’t working.

A couple weeks after I started sending out my queries, I got a request from Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Agency for the first 100 pages. She was definitely on my A-list, but I managed to play it cool and not write any mushy, embarrassing things when I emailed her back. A couple months later, she asked to see the entire manuscript. A few more months went by, and she asked for revisions. I don’t think there was enough room on my face for my smile to fit at this point. I’d never gotten this far in the process before, and in my mind, an agent putting the effort into asking for specific revisions meant something very positive. You try to tell yourself not to get your hopes up, but my hopes were definitely up.

Then, a few months later, I got THE CALL. Jennifer was interested in representing me, and we had a nice chat about the book and our visions for it. At least, I think we did. My head was spinning the entire time, and it was all very surreal. After I hung up the phone, there was dancing involved. And probably chocolate.

Rejection letters play a frequent role in any writer’s life during the submission process. How did it feel getting them? What kept you motivated throughout it all?

Ah, the sweet sting of rejection. They’re like paper cuts—they hurt like hell, but then you forget about them a few minutes later and send out another query, another short story submission, get back to your current work-in-progress, what-have-you. According to the Submissions Grinder, I’ve had 334 rejections for short stories since I started submitting in 2008, which is a lot, but I’ve also had 37 acceptances, which is also kind of a lot. I’ve got around 60 query rejections, a few partial and full manuscript rejections, but if I hadn’t suffered through those cuts, I wouldn’t have a book deal right now. If you’re not getting rejections, you’re not playing the game.

Felicidades épicas. You’ve been published! Talk to me about that day, receiving the email/call. How did it feel? And What have you done to celebrate since?

Remember what I said about waiting? I began querying in September of 2010, and signed with Jennifer in December 2011. She started submitting THE PREY OF GODS to editors early in 2012. There was interest in the novel early on, and I even talked to an editor at some point, but things fell through, and then there was radio silence for a loooonnnngggg time. Nearly four years of it, but while many agents would have given up after 1 year, and probably most would have given up by year 3, Jennifer kept pushing, kept looking for new opportunities, doing unimaginable amounts of work behind the scenes. Last fall, she told me an editor at Harper Voyager was interested, and next thing I knew I was talking to David Pomerico on the phone, listening to him gush about the novel and his ideas for it. It’s so cool to hear your writing and characters talked about with such enthusiasm. The conversation went really well, and our visions for the book fit together nicely. The next day, he made an offer for THE PREY OF GODS plus another yet to be named book. Suddenly, it felt like everything was happening so fast!

To celebrate, I bought myself a Vitamix blender, one of those fancy high powered ones that’ll grind down anything. I’d been wanting one FOREVER. Like probably as long as I’ve been writing. It’s as awesome as I thought it would be. I also cut my hours at my day job (just told my boss today!) so I’ll have more time to write. That was a super scary thing to do. I’m still trying to come to terms with my writing no longer being a hobby.

Walk me through the process from that email to getting the final book signed off for release.

So after the contract was agreed upon and signed, David, my editor (it feels so cool to say that!), gave me some notes with suggestions on how to make the story stronger and areas that needed to be smoothed out. Plus he’s big on the mechanics of magic systems, so he encouraged me to define how mine worked to make sure there weren’t any unintentional discrepancies within the story. The revisions he wanted were pretty minor, but since I’d written the story nearly 7 years ago, I had some things I wanted to change, too. However, I didn’t want to change too much, since he already loved the story, but I got a chance to hone some parts to better reflect where I am as a writer now. Plus, I only had about five weeks to get everything shined and polished, and I definitely didn’t want to miss my first writing deadline.

I also figured that this was the time to get some real live beta readers from South Africa to make sure I didn’t get everything totally and completely wrong. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback over the years, so I’m used to the critique process, but I can tell you I’ve never been so nervous as I was to put this novel in front of those beta readers. Writing about cultures and experiences that aren’t my own, I knew I had a lot of blind spots, but even just the act of asking someone to read the novel made me more reflective of what I was intentionally or unintentionally saying. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but I definitely had some big goofs I had to fix with names being off and locations being wrong, and I had to reconsider how to represent some sensitive topics. The biggest gain I got from my beta readers was the amount of suggestions they gave me to make the world richer, stuff I would never have thought up on my own—which led to little details like artisans selling miniature robots made from recycled Fanta cans and my characters eating pap en vleis instead of generic soup. The story has a lot more texture now, and I’m truly grateful for my beta readers’ help and honesty.

I turned in my revisions on time (yay), and about a week later, I got more edits back from David, really minor stuff. I fixed those and sent them back in, and that’s where we are so far. More waiting! It’ll be about a year and a half total between when I got the offer and when the book comes out, but having deadlines is definitely making the time fly by. In the meantime, David had me make a Pinterest board of images I thought would make for a good cover, so that’s been fun. (You can check them out here.) Plus, I’ve got Book II (also set in South Africa, but unrelated) to edit, so it’s not like I don’t have enough to keep me busy.

Tips & Tricks:

Do you have any great writing resources that you can share with us?

One of my favorite writing rituals happens after I’ve finished my first draft. I don’t outline typically, so I get to know my characters and story as I’m writing it. To get a deeper understanding of my characters before I revise, I turn to astrology, particularly this awesome book: The New Astrology: A Unique Synthesis of the World’s Two Great Astrological Systems: The Chinese and Western a special little cheat that my old writing coach Richard introduced me to. It contains insightful descriptions of all of the Chinese zodiac signs, plus all of the Western ones, then goes one step further and combines them for a total of 144 unique combinations…combinations that make great well-rounded characters with little to no effort!

Then I look through the lists of character traits for both the Chinese and Western zodiacs and find the ones that closely match each main character. I pick the best from each astrology system, find where they intersect, and voila! Each entry gives me several pages of material, including a generous list of character strengths, weaknesses, and quirks right there on the page. It also goes into detail about what professions suit the character, which signs they’re romantically compatible with, and what their family life is like.

I pick and choose from these little gems to backfill my story, and with a few carefully placed details, the characters come to life and jump off the page. So that’s my big characterization secret. If I were to have only one book in my reference library, this one would definitely be it!

What would you say to other aspiring writers out there?

Patience and Optimism are your two best friends. You can do it. It will happen. Keep writing and reading and learning about the world and about yourself, and when opportunity knocks, be brave enough to answer the door.

If there was just one nugget of wisdom you could share, what would that be?

Write what you don’t know.

I really hate the advice of write what you know. I guess it works if you’re a super genius, or have some special skillset, but for regular people there’s so much out there that’s interesting that you don’t know, but can get to know with a bit of research.

I have a short story I wrote recently about an El Salvadoran debt collector living in Manhattan with a Puerto Rican husband who ends up growing a rat tail. I was pretty much deficient on general knowledge of all these things. I could have easily written the story about a black girl working in IT in Austin (basically Mary Sue) whose husband grew a rat tail, and saved myself some 20 hours of researching several cultures, studying debt collector slang, learning about subway routes, finding the apartment they lived in on google maps, the library they’d go to, and the restaurants they’d eat at. But for me, those hours spent researching -- which I could have used to write a whole-nother story, maybe two -- were important to me, because they expanded my knowledge and my reach as a writer. By the end of the story, I felt that I could confidently navigate Manhattan and know how to catch a train and not look like a total tourist...Of course, I probably couldn’t, but I felt that way. And I KNOW I still got stuff wrong, but it’s my story, and I’ll stand up for it, because I owe my characters that. You’ll mess up, too, but that’s okay. You’ll also get to grow as a writer and as a person if you keep challenging yourself.

Also, BETA readers. Find some good ones, and be kind to them.

About the Book

THE PREY OF GODS started as my National Novel Writing Month project way back in 2009. It’s a near future thriller set in South Africa, and features a diverse set of characters who discover they have special godlike powers and must team up against a disenfranchised demigoddess who’s intent on remaking their world. The main characters include a wayward teen whose grandfather is pressuring him into ritual circumcision, a neglected township girl who’s discovered she can fly, a robot on the cusp of sentience, plus a cross-dressing politician, and a raunchy pop diva who all find that they are not the people they thought themselves to be.

township_by_Daniela Ritrovato_CC_ND

The initial concept came to me after reading Ian McDonald’s River of Gods, which is set in a futuristic India. I’d been to Port Elizabeth, South Africa back when I was in college, and I thought it’d be interesting to imagine how the experiences I had there could translate into a work of speculative fiction. Many of the highlights from my visit are featured in the book, for example, we toured some of the rural townships where people live in tin shanties, met teenaged boys who had recently gone through the circumcision rite, and visited a couple wildlife preserves. And it seemed like everywhere we went, there were these little cute antelopes called dik-diks rummaging around the city, kind of in a similar way some places have deer overpopulation problems, so those things all got worked into the book. It was a lot of fun to relive my memories through my writing and to project how South Africa’s unique challenges and strengths would intersect with technological and scientific advancements over the next fifty years.

dik_dik_public_domain

THE PREY OF GODS is scheduled for release, the Summer of 2017, so mark your calendars from now.

If you'd like to get to know Nicky's awesome style while you wait, here is a great purchase waiting for you on Amazon. Happy reading.

Next up is for all our fellow Authors, Nicky will be graciously doing a Critique for the Lucky chucky Winner. The Winner will have their pick of critique at either their Query Letter or First Ten Pages of their Novel Or A Short Story Under 3000 Words.

She was born 6th June 1980 in Palermo (Italy). She started to draw when she was 5 years old and studied at the High school of Art for 5 years.

In 2002, she stopped to drawing and restarted in 2013 with Assassin's Creed drawings with ball-point pen. In these 3 years she's tried such techniques as, the ball-point pen, ink, watercolors and charcoal.

In this last year, she's also a digital artist, she started for fun, self-taught, and now she styles and works like a professional.

Musiriam loves to try new things and is keen on improving everyday.

Art Tag: Musiriam

1. Are you an Art Lover, if so which artform? Cinema, Sculpture, drawings and paintings or music.

Yes! I love sculptures, paintings & drawings altogether

2. Share one of your works of art with us, if you don’t mind.

This is Kabir Bedi, an Indian actor. In this drawing, he was "sandokan" a character from a mini series

5. Do you feel like art should evoke emotions? If so, do you think it should be used for positive (Inspiring, Memories, Light-Hearted) or negative emotions (Bring awareness of social issues, bring to light injustice etc.) ?

Absolutely! Awe-inspiring positive emotions.

6. Do you consider yourself to be an artist?

Not Yet, no.

7. Assign Feelings to the following colors:

i. Paynes Grey - Sadness

ii. Deep Violet - Passion

iii. Luminescent Green - Happiness

iv. White Pure - Soul

v. Black - Death

8. What superpower would you have and why?

To Teleport, like in the movie Jumper. I love that!

9. Who's your favorite artist? Who inspires you?

My favorite artist is Michelangelo Buonarroti

QuickFire

Paint or Pencil

Both

Anger Art or Peaceful Art

Both

Words or Images

Cartoons or Sculptures

Happiness or Sadness (Subject Matter)

Both

Tons of Texture or Smooth Surface

Both

Here are more of her EPIC artworks:

John Wick

Kratos

When I found out Musiriam is from Italy, I immediately asked her to teach me some Italian.

Here's what I've learned so far:

Thank you - Grazie

Good Morning - Buon Giorno

Good Night - Buona notte

Goodluck - Buona fortuna

Hello - Ciao

Congratulations - Congratulazioni!

Favorite saying - "di necessità virtù" - to make a virtue of necessity.

Friday, 19 August 2016

Woooohooo It's #FreebieFriday!!
Here's your chance to WIN WIN WIN Big with Akasha Garnier.
To honor the launch of her book Secrets to Shine Through The Noise, Akasha is giving away exclusive Stellar Shine Promo Packs to TWO lucky, lucky readers. How awesome is that?!!

The Hype is REAL This launch week we've celebrated some ground-breaking success on social media. The responses & interaction has been phenomenal! Well on it's way to a million impressions in a week with thousands of retweets daily.

I know, right?! 1,000+ retweets since 17th August 2016 & counting! I couldn't believe my eyes, a friend even asked me "At what point do you consider it viral?" haha. Be sure to check out the live tweet & all the replies received from #TeamAkasha plus new Tribe members.

Shine-Tastic Reviews & Views

Holy Spatula the reviews received so far have been positively glowing & Shine-Tastic!
Check them out by clicking on the highlighted name:

Have a SHINE cocktail toast with Akasha
"If they get to Chicago on their own, I would work it out to be there and welcome them with a toast. Dario & Chef Alessio will make a special shine cocktail for my launch event Sept 18 and the winner will get that cocktail to toast and celebrate success with me in person."
Enjoy the VIP event with this amazing author & mentor.

Wednesday, 17 August 2016

Woooohoooo!!! Help me congratulate my friend & mentor Akasha Garnier on the official release of her motivational book, Secrets to Shine Through the Noise. As writers we all dream of getting published in some form or the other, so this is a massive accomplishment.

Benita Govender is an optometrist, the reason for this career choice is because she wanted to help people on a daily basis. She is passionate about her job and thrives on it. Her family and friends mean the world to her. One of her hobbies is reading, she loves to learn new things. Reading also allows her to delve into new worlds and get lost in them.

Hello, Hello all you fantastically amazing individuals.

Today I not only have the honor of being featured on Alfonzo Words hot blog spot, but I have the absolute privilege to speak about Akasha Garnier's brilliant book: Secrets to Shine Through the Noise.The awesome cover for this book was revealed right here on Alfonzo Words and was so worth the wait!

In this incredible book, Akasha shows us how to step out of boxes which society has put us in and embrace our individuality. She teaches us to SHINE.

"Shining is natural. It's that connection that makes you smile and the light bulb that goes on that makes us get up"

With the simple exercises, activities and steps laid out to assist you; not only will you be able to get what you WANT out of life but you will also discover new things about yourself along the way. The sky is the limit and this book has shown me how any of us have the ability to reach it.

At every turn, there is new inspiration and motivation but the one thing that sticks with me is that your age is irrelevant. Akasha speaks of how you can create new goals and reach them - at any age. Only we hold ourselves back.

I was surprised to find how simple the exercises were and yet have such an impact. I found coloring to be very therapeutic.

Reading these secrets has been a magnificent learning for me. I have always wanted to travel but having reached my academic goals, I became a creature of habit and comfort. Now I have new goals. To travel and to be more open to trying new things. To be more accepting of change.

Akasha says we need to eliminate the word "can't" and every day, I find myself doing just that. I've also begun to spend less time on social media just as she suggested and I find I have more time to be productive and accomplish my smaller daily goals.

There is a brilliant exercise to help you start moving forward. It's one of my favorites, as it helps you to "get into the driver's seat". Not only does it help to remind you of your positive traits, but it also allows you to learn more about yourself as a person. We are our own worst critics but this exercise helps you focus on your strengths and work on that.

Here is my favorite image from Secrets to Shine Through the Noise, is the signed hi-res Travel coloring image I received from Akasha:

It shows you reaping your rewards, in a way. Like all that hard work is paying off.

This book surpasses all distinctions we humans have created to divide us and calls out to every person to improve their lives and to do so at a pace which suits them.

Not only is it beneficial to each and every one of us, but 10% of proceeds from this book will be donated to Teen Cancer America.

I am most certainly going to get my family and friends to read this life-changing book. We have just this one life so let's SHINE, bright and bold.

Akasha also has a thriller trilogy which will be coming out and I for one cannot wait to get my hands on those books!

A HUGE thank you to Akasha for allowing me to read Secrets to Shine Through the Noise and Alfonzo Words for featuring me on this awesome blog. The support I have received from the both of you is greatly appreciated.

To purchase Secrets to Shine Through the Noise, please click on the link below: